In most circles, the end of the year means holiday good cheer, feelings of fellowship, and optimism. At the Boston City Council, it’s the exact opposite. Year's end in City Hall means bitterness, resentment, and jealousy, as the city council casts its annual vote for council president.

Last year, seven councilors entered the annual New Year’s Day exercise prepared to vote against then-president James Kelly of South Boston and for Brian Honan of Brighton. In a desperate and wily move, Kelly shifted his slate of supporters (at-large councilors Stephen Murphy, Michael Flaherty, Peggy Davis-Mullen, and Mickey Roache, and district councilor Maureen Feeney of Dorchester) to Charles Yancey of Mattapan. The move wasn’t even divulged until councilors began casting their votes, and Davis-Mullen, giving the first vote, named Yancey as her choice. The recriminations lasted for months, helping to promote the idea that the city’s legislative branch is a joke — a notion that has only helped Mayor Tom Menino cement his dominance over Boston’s political life.

So who will win this year? No one knows.

" The race of the council presidency is much like the old Bugs Bunny cartoon, " says Murphy. " The first person that sticks their head out of their rabbit hole gets blasted. There are at least three people sniffing around right now. I don’t think any of them have the necessary seven votes to be elected president. "

The three candidates are Yancey, whose tenure has been smoother than many would have imagined; Maureen Feeney of Dorchester; and Paul Scapicchio of the North End. (Scapicchio, along with at-large councilor Mike Flaherty, Brian Honan of Brighton, and Dan Conley of Hyde Park, is also a possible candidate for Suffolk County district attorney.)

Chuck Turner of Roxbury and newly elected at-large councilor Maura Hennigan (formerly the district councilor from Jamaica Plain) are casting their lots with Yancey. " He was a very good president who helped to bring us together, " says Turner. " We’ll get some votes based on the experience that councilors had with him. "

Feeney appears to be garnering support from Kelly and some of the other council traditionalists, such as Murphy, who are sometimes at odds with Menino. Scapicchio, meanwhile, is trying to cobble together a block of supporters from younger councilors friendly to the mayor, such as Michael Ross of Beacon Hill, Flaherty, Honan, and newly elected district councilor John Tobin of West Roxbury. " In the last few years, there’s been some new life coming into the council, " says Ross, remaining silent about whom he will support. " There’s been a new wave of young, educated councilors who’ve come to this body and worked to improve it. I’d like to see some of that momentum swept into the council presidency. "

The truth is that even a week before the election, no one knows how the various personalities will shake out. But one thing is certain: the losers will be upset, angry, and bitter.

" It’s always hard when you have 13 political people who each have egos, agendas, and try to get them to agree with each other, " says Hennigan.

Happy New Year, Boston.

Issue Date: December 27, 2001 - January 3, 2002

Back to the News and Features table of contents.